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Jason Maloney reviews

Jakob The Liar

Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

Cert:
Cat.no: CDR 26773
Running time: 115 minutes
Year: 1999
Pressing: 2000
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 28 plus extras
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround
Languages: English and German
Subtitles: English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic,Hindi, Hebrew, Dutch, German, Turkish, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian and Arabic.
Widescreen: 1.85:1
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: DVD 9
Price: £19.99
Extras : Scene index, Behind-the-scenes featurette, Director's Commentary, Filmographies, Isolated Score - Music Highlights, Theatrical Trailer, Awakenings Trailer.

Director:

Peter Kassovitz

Cast:

Jakob: Robin Williams
Lina: Hannah Taylor Gordon
Dr. Kirschbaum: Armin Mueller-Stahl
Frankfurter: Alan Arkin
Mischa: Liev Schreiber
Kowalsky: Bob Balaban
Fajngold: Mark Margolis
Avron: Michael Jeter
Rosa: Nina Siemaszko

Set aside for a moment any thoughts of Schindler's List or Life Is Beautiful. Jakob The Liar may share their subject matter to some extent, but comparisons of any kind with those films serve little purpose. It's not trying to be a chilling historical document to the horrors of the Nazis persecution of the Jews, and though there may be similarities with Bengini's tragi-comedy the source material for Jakob dates back more than 30 years, and had already been filmed before - 1976's Oscar-nominated foreign language feature Jakob De Lugner. Thus, criticisms which castigate this movie for *cashing in* on the success of recent Holocaust films are misplaced, and utterly worthless.

The avalanche of negative reviews for Jakob The Liar have a recurring theme. They centre around already-established preconceptions and personal opinions of Robin Williams. It's as if they've taken a cursory look at the cast list and basic premise of the story, and gone to town on unleashing their tiresome anti-Williams rhetoric. Just the idea of him playing a Jew in the ghettos of pre-concentration camp Poland who inadvertently brings hope to his community seems to be enough to raise their ire.

The question is "why?". Admittedly, this film will not be remembered as a classic, but if one was to believe even half the vitriol spewed out in its direction the end product would be woeful and offensive in the extreme. There is precious little of the sentimentality, mawkishness or audience manipulation which Williams has been guilty of over the years. Save for one brief (and it turns out, pivotal) scene where he utilises his improvisational comic genius, there is also none of usual Williams schtick. He is admirably restrained, and surprisingly effective throughout. It's a sorry state of affairs when such qualities as those Williams possesses and espouses are continually slammed down.

So, to the film itself. It's a *small* picture, in that it focuses upon a personal story. A character piece centered around former cafe-owner Williams and the chain of events that unravel after he overhears a German Army radio transmission. It all takes place within the doomed ghetto walls, with many of the images so horrifically etched on our memories by Schindler's List returning here to somewhat less traumatic effect.

The truth is, after Spielberg's black & white masterpiece shook us to our very core, anything else is bound to pale in comparison. However, it's still convincing enough to allow the plot to develop, as the community hears of the news Jakob unwittingly became privvy to and the situation escalates.

There is a good balance here between light and dark. It doesn't present the Jews as one-dimensional victims - which was Schindler's only flaw - but it still only manages to make them mostly two-dimensional. The black humour which infuses the film thankfully adds a realistic edge to the overall tone. The Holocaust Jews had intelligence and a satirical wit just like everyone else, and to deny them this on screen would be a mistake and a disservice.

Any self-serving worthiness or earnest posturing is avoided thanks to Armin Mueller-Stahl's beautifully-pitched performance as the Jewish ghetto doctor whose wily astuteness underscores much of the story's dynamic, and also comes as a blessed relief from the many cardboard cut-out characters surrounding him.

That said, it's difficult to gauge whether Jakob The Liar goes too far, or not far enough. You cannot please all the people all of the time. It hits the right notes in terms of pathos, irony and integrity, yet some of the fringe characters are poorly written. The ending, meanwhile, is slightly bizarre and quite possibly an error of judgement, but equally so it could be seen as a poetic extension of the story's concept of fantasy creating hope. Perhaps the filmmakers couldn't bring themselves to finish at the point where the natural conclusion occurs.

Despite the anamorphic 1.85:1 presentation, the film lacks the timeless cinematic quality it's story perhaps deserves, the necessarily bleak setting and drab colour tones not quite washed-out enough. The score similarly fails at times to back-up what's happening on-screen, unsure whether to treat it as a black comedy or a tragic drama with humourous elements, though generally the use of music is intelligent and appropriate.

A day & date title from Columbia Tri-Star, who have established themselves as one of the most consistently impressive studios in the Region 2 market, it doesn't quite equal the likes of Random Hearts or Mystery Men in terms of the depth of quality extras, though a full-length director's commentary is included along with a standard featurette and the obligatory trailer. The equally run-of-the-mill filmographies are confined to the four main players in this project, while putting a trailer for Awakenings on the disc wasn't the subtlest of moves, and smacks of studio marketing.

All things considered, it's not anywhere near as dubious as it could have been, and it's also been packaged with some sense of style and respect for its audience.

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
OVERALL

Review copyright © Jason Maloney, 2000.

E-mail Jason Maloney

Check out Jason's homepage: The Slipstream.

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